Automatic engine-stop mechanism.



W. H. NUTTER.

AUTOMATIC ENGINE STOP MECHANISM.

APPLICATION TILED APR. 6, 1914.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

2 SHEETS -SHIJET1.

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W'HIN'ESSES:

ATTORNEY.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO, FHOm-LI'IHQLWASHINOTUN. D C.

W. H. NUTTER. AUTOMATIC ENGINE STOP MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6, 1914.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

2 SHEETS-S THE NORfllS PETERS C0, PHOTO-LITHO. WASHINGYUN. n. C

n s'ra'rns WARREN H. NU'ITER, OF ST.. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

AUTOMATIC ENGINE-STOP MECHANISM.

LIMASQ.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, \VARREN H. Nu'rrnn,citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticEngine-Stop Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in automatic engine-stopmechanism for steam and other fluid-operated engines; and it consists inthe novel features of construction more fully set forth in thespecification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a conventional Corlissengine having my invention applied thereto, parts of the engine beingbroken away; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the zigzag line 2--2 ofFig. 1; Fig. is an enlarged elevational and sectional detail of thecentrifugal spring controlled tappet carried by the fly wheel; Fig. l isan enlarged side elevation of the valve-controlling mechanism forming apart of my invention; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-43 ofFig. l; Fig. 6 is a loi'igitudinal sectional detail on the line 6-6 ofFig. 5; Fig. 7 is a view simalar to one end of that shown in Fig. 5,with the parts in proper engagement to effect stoppage of the engine;Fig. 8 is a cross-section on the line S-8 of Fig. 5; Fig. 9 is an endview of the sliding clutch member mounted on the rock-shaft carrying thebell-crank to which the VtllVG-T621h rods are coupled; Fig. 10 is a faceview of the outer clutch member or that directly controlled by thepullrod responding to the action of the tappet; Fig. 11 is an enlargedrepresentation of the mechanism illustrated at the right-hand end inFig. 2, with parts broken away; Fig. 12 is a vertical tansversesectional detail on the line 1212 of Fig. 1; and Figs. 13 and ll arediagrammatic views illustrating the relative positions of the variousformations of the several clutches as shown in Figs. 5 and 7respectively.

The present invention is directed particularly to mechanism forexercising control of the steam-valves and governor of a Corliss enginewith a view of cutting off the steam supply to the cylinder should theengine speed up excessively for any reason, as for example owing toexcessive slippage or breakage of the governor-belt, although itSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 6, 1914.

Patented Nov. 1'7, 1914.

Serial No. 829,940.

must be understood that I do not restrict the invention to thisparticular type of englue.

The object of the invention is to exercise control over the steam orinlet valves through the agency of devices responding to centrifugalforce under conditions of excessive speed of the engine shaft andfly-wheel thereof.

A further object is to construct a stop mechanism which is exceedinglysimple, positive, reliable, and one possessing further and otheradvantages better apparent from a detailed description of the invention,which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, F1, represents the body or frame of aconventional Corliss engine, S, the drive-shaft, the fly-wheel, (Jr, thegovernor, 1, the governor-staff, and 2, the governor-shaft. The latterhas mounted thereon the pulley 3 from which leads a belt l to the shaftS. Secured to the staff 1 is a bracket 5 carrying the cross tubularmember or hearing 5 in which is mounted a rock-shaft 6 one end of whichcarries the balancing lever 7 provided with the usual weight B.Set-screwed to the shaft 6 adjacent the end of the tubular bearing 5opposite that at which the lever 7 is disposed, is a collar 8 forming amale clutch member of a series of clutches to be presently referred to,and through the medium of which the inlet valves are controlled assubsequently to be explained. The member S is provided with a lever'arm9 the outer end of which is pivotally coupled to the lower end of thegovernor connectingrod or link 10 whose upper end is secured to thegovernor cross-head 11 carried by the plunger 12 of the governor. \Viththe exception of the clutch-collar S, the parts described are wellunderstood in the art and are shown more or less conventionally here in.Mounted loosely on the rock-shaft 6, adjacent the male clutch-member Sis a female clutch men'iber or collar 13, the said member constitutingthe hub of the leverarms I l, 14, from which lead the reach-rods 15, 15,to the CilllllQVGl'S 1G, 16, on the inlet bonnets of the live steam orinlet valves. The wrist-plate 17 is connected by the valverods 18, 18,and 19, 1.9, to the inlet and exhaust valves V, V, respectively, saidwristplate being actuated from the engine eccentric ll through thereach-rod 20, rocker-arm 21, and eccentric-rod 20. The valves V areprovided with the steam and safety cams 22, and 23, respectively, aswell understood in the art.

As fully understood in the art, when the governor balls attain anexcessive rate of speed (as a result of overspeeding of the engine) theyfly outwardly and upwardly, thereby reducing the quantity of steamadmitted past the inlet valves V into the cylinder C. hen the speed ofthe engine drops below a given point, the governor balls drop, allowinga greater quantity of steam to enter the cylinder. Under my presentinvention, it is desirable, when the governor-belt 4- breaks or slipsexcessively, (under which conditions the belt-pulley 3 is respectivelystopped or reduced in speed, causing the governor balls to lose controlof theinlet valves, and to drop to a point where excessive quantities ofsteam are admitted to the cylinder, thus speeding up the engine to anundesirable degree) that the levers 14, 14, are oscillated in properdirection to close the valves V, and cut off the motor-fluid. Thisresultis attained by the clutches which I shall now describe in detail, and bythe centrifugally operated tappet mechanism to which said clutches areresponsive. These instrumentalities may be described as follows: Securedto one of the bosses to through which the two sections of the fly-wheelW are bolted together, is a bracket 24 to which is in turn secured inany mechanical manner a hollow arm or tube 25 in which is free toreciprocate a stem 26 terminating in an outer head or tappet h and in aninner head it, the stem operating freely through a screw-cap 27 securedto the free end of the tube 25, a coiled compression spring 28encircling the stem and bearing respectively against the head it andscrew-cap 27, normally tending to force the head 72. inwardly and thusdraw the stem into the tube and bring the head it in proximity to thescrew-cap.

With an excessive speed of rotation of the fly-wheel, the centrifugalforce will act to drive the stem 26 radially outward (the axis of themember 25 being disposed in a plane parallel to the plane of rotation ofthe fiy-wheel), thereby compressing the spring 28 and projecting thehead it some distance beyond the cap 27 (see dotted position in Figs. 2,3 and 11). As the centrifugal force drops by reason of a reduction inthe speed of rotation of the fly-wheel, the spring expands and draws thestem back into the tube 25. The ejection of the stem by the centrifugalforceis facilitated by the head it which acts as a weight for the stem.Proper tension may be imposed on the spring 28 by either the screw-capor by employing a spring originally of the proper tension, so as torespond to any degree of centrifugal force developed. Disposed in thepath of the circular travel of the tappet h when projected outwardlyunder excessive centrifugal action, is the central stem or trip per arm29, of a yoke 30 hinged to the outer terminal head or cap-piece 31 of asleeve or tube 32 coupled to, and forming an extension of, a tube 33,the connection being effected by means of a union 34 whose centralperforated wall forms a seat for the inner end of a compression spring35, the opposite or outer end of the spring bearing against a radial pin36 on a trigger-rod 37 freely traversing said members 31, 32, 33 and 34(Fig. 11). One end of the rod 37 is adapted to bear against the base ofthe yoke 30, and remain in engagement therewith under the resilientaction of the controlling spring 35, when the yoke is swung to bring thebase thereof opposite and against the end of the red, the stem 29 beingthen substantially coincident with the axis of said rod. The tube 33 isrigidly supported from the top of a standard 38, the opposite andthicker end 37 of the rod projecting a slight dis tance beyond thestandard (the part 37 being made thicker than and forming an offsetwith, the part 37 said offset serving to arrest the rod in its outwardthrow in the tube 33 which is bored to conform to the parts 37, 37 Theprojecting end 37 is adapted to be brought into engagement with theupturned arm or finger a of a second inclined trigger-rod 39 mountedloosely in a tube 40 which is rigidly secured to a T 41 at the upper endof a tubular angle-bracket 42 leading from the standard 38, the rod 39traversing the T and the central perforated wall thereof, as well as thetubular bearing 40 coupled to the T on the opposite side of said wall.(Fig. 11.) The upper end of the rod 39 is coupled to the arm 43 of athird clutch-member or collar 44 mounted loosely on the rock-shaft 6,and to which further reference will hereinafter be made.

The trigger-rod 39 is controlled by a coinpression-e ecting spring 45within the guide tube 40, one end of the spring bearing against thecentral partition of the T 41,

the opposite end engaging a pin 46 on the rod. A collar 47 set-screwedto the shaft 6 prevents the clutch 44 from slipping off the shaft (Figs.5, 7).

The member 8 serves as a male clut h member for the female clutch-member13, the latter in turn serving as a male for the female member 44. Oneend of the member 8 is provided with projections or processes (Z whichare'adapted to enter corresponding depressions or recesses c in themember 13,

the said projections being free to traverse iii.

the face at between the depressions during certain portions of thearcuate travel of said projections as presently to be more fullydescribed, the two members 8 and 13 being provided with adjacent sockets2', 2', jointly forming a chamber or housing for a compression spring41-8, which, under conditions to be presently described forces themembers apart (Fig. 7), that is to say, it causes the processes orprojections cl, d, of the member 13 to enter the correspondingdepressions or recesses c (of the member 1 1), when the latter arebrought into register with said processes under conditions of excessivespeed of the engine, as presently to be described. Under normalconditions, the projections (Z simply ride over the faces m, m, of theclutch member 14., being limited in one direction by the shoulders rdefining one of the terminal limits of the faces m. On the other hand,the presence of the shoulder or offset 9" depresses the surface m on oneside of the recess below that on the other side of the recess, leavingone wall of the recess higher than the other (see particularly Fig. 5).The higher wall positively insures the passage of the tooth orprojection (Z' into the recess when the member 14; is rocked through asuflicient arc to bring the tooth opposite said recess.

The operation of the mechanism may be best described by a reference toFigs. 5, 7 13 and 1 1. The diagrammatic illustration in Fig. 13 showsthe superposed position of the several formations on the men'ibers 8,13, 41st, as they occur in Fig. 5, and the illustration in Fig. 14 showstheir superposition as they occur in Fig. 7. Under normal serviceconditions, where the load on the engine is practically constant, thespeed of the shaft S and the fly-wheel )V is governed by the governor G,the balls thereof in rising and falling controlling the valves V, V,through the medium of the reach-rods 15, 15, clutch memhere 3, 13, (Fig.5), arm 9, connecting rod 10, cross-head 11, and plunger 12-, as wellunderstood in the art. In this series of con nections however, theclutch members 8 and 13 I consider novel. Under the normal or serviceconditions referred to, the ope 'ator sets the clutch members 8, 13,1-1, as indicated in Fig. 5, that is to say, he causes the projections(Z of the member 8 to enter the depressions c of the member 13, it beingof course necessary to compress the spring 418 for that purpose, wherebythe member 13 is locked to the member 8. This brings the ends of theprojections cl of the member 13 into engagement with the faces m of themember 44:, thus uncoupling the member 4-1 from the member 13. As thegovernor balls rise and fall, the connecting-rod 10 rises and falls andcauses a vertical oscillation to be imparted to the arm 9, which,through the medium of the coupled or locked members 13, 8, (the latterbeing set-screwed to the shaft 6) rocks the shaft 6, thereby oscillatingthe arms 14, 141, (leading from the member 13) which actuate thereach-rods 15 coupled to the inlet valves V, V. The valves V, V, arethus controlled directly from the governor under normal serviceconditions, the projections (Z of the member 13 riding over the surfacesm of the member 4A between the offsets 1' and the recesses 0 (Figs. 5and 13). Under the normal service conditions refcrred to, the triggerrods 39, 37, (37), and yoke are set as indicated to best advantage inFig. 11, the rod 39 being pushed back to 'ard the governor so as tobring the arm 43 of the clutch ring 14 to substantially the positionindicatedin Fig. 41. Let us assume now that something happens to thegovernorbelt 1; either that it breaks or slips excessively. If itbreaks, the pulley 3 will stop; if it slips excessively, the pulley 3will lag behind or run very slowly. In either case the governor ballswill drop, for the reason that if the belt breaks there is nothing todrive the shaft 2, and if the belt slips excessively, the velocity ofrotation of the shaft 2 is materially reduced. \Vith a drop of thegovernor balls, the arm 9 will be depressed and the arms 14, 14oscillated in a direction to throw the reach-rods in a direction to openthe valve ports to an excessive degree, and thus the engine begins tospeed up. Thcrcupon the fly-wheel will develop suflicient centrifugalforce to cause an ejection of the tappet h (Figs. 2,. 3, 11,) which whenejected sutliciently, will trip the stem 29 of the yoke 30 upwardly(dotted position Fig. 12) thereby releasing the rod 37 which is forcedoutwardly from the tube 32 by the action of the spring 35, the rod thusprojected causing its rear extension 37" to release the finger a of thetrigger-rod 39, which now projected outwardly from the tube 40 by theexpansion of the spring 15, the pull on the rod exerting a pull on thearm 4-3 to which its opposite end is coupled, the effect of the pull onthe arm 43 being to oscillate the latter and impose rotation on the ringormembcr 4A, (of which said arm forms a part) through an are which issuflieient not only to bring the recesses c of the member 14 oppositeand into engagement with, the projections (Z of the member 13, but toturn said ring after the engagement is effected. lVhcn the recesses care brought opposite the projections (Z, the spring 18 forces the member13 out'of locking engagement with the member 8, but drives the member 13into locking engagement with the member 414;, the turn imparted to thering 4st after the locking thereto of the'ring 13, rotating both ringsas a unit, thus bringing the projections cl of the member oppositetheface 1% of the ring 13 (Figs. 7, 1-1), over which face the saidprojections are free to ride. The ring 13 being new free from the ring8, it follows that any oscillation imparted to the arms 14, 1st, can nolonger come from any oscillation of the arm 9 coupled to the governor,so that when the members 8,

13, are uncoupled as a result of the rocking of the ring 44 by therelease of the triggerrod 39 under the high-speed conditions due tobreakage or excessive slippage of the governor belt 4, the governor nolonger has control over the members 14,14, and reach-rods 15, 15, andhence loses control over the valves V, V. So that, under the high speedconditions referred to, the inlet valves are actuated directly by therod 39 acting under the tension of the spring 45, said spring beingeffective owing to the release of said rod from the trigger-rod 37, (87)which is in turn released by the tripping of the yoke 30 by the tappeth. Then however the arm 43 is oscillated by the release of thetrigger-rod 39, the members 13; and 44 are rocked as a unit through anarc sufiicient to cause the arms 14, 14, to impart the necessarymovement to the reach-rods 15, 15, to cause the latter to rock the inletvalves V, V, to closed position, thus cutting off all supply of steam tothe cylinder and bringing the engine to a stop. To reset the parts theoperator or engineer disconnects the member 18 from the member 44, bycompressing the spring 45, giving the ring 13 a sufficient turn to bringthe same into locking engagement with the ring 8, whereupon the partsare restored to the position indicated in Figs. 5 and 11, the brokenbelt having in the meantime been repaired, or if the undue speed wascaused by a slipping belt, the defect having been remedied by shorteningthe loose belt. a

It is to be understood that I do not restrict the application of theinvention to engines in which the governor is driven by a belt, nor do Irestrict the invention to steam engines, as it may be applied to air,gas, electric, or other motor-fluid operated engines.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination with a motor-fluid operated engine, a belt drivengovernor therefor, valves controlled by the governor under normalservice conditions, a shaft mounted adjacent to the governor, aclutchring mounted loosely on the shaft and nor mally coupled to thegovernor and to the valves, a cooperating clutch ring mounted loosely onthe shaft, a fiy-wheel, a series of spring controlled trigger rodsinterposed between the last named clutch-ring and flywheel, and set tonormally maintain the last mentioned clutch-ring out of lockingengagement with the first ring aforesaid, a compression-springinterposed between the first mentioned clutch-ring and the governor, anda centrifugally operated tappet on the fly-wheel for'tripping thetrigger-rods with excessive speeds of the engine, the

clutch-rings being provided with suitable formations to effect releaseof the first ring from the governor and a locking engagement thereofwith the last mentioned ring, whereby the governor is disconnected fromthe valves, and the valve controlling devices are coupled to the lastmentioned clutchring, the release of the trigger-rods rocking the lastclutch-ring through an are sufficient to effect a cut-0H of themotor-fluid to the cylinder.

2. In combination with a motor-fluid operated engine, a belt drivengovernor, a rock-shaft adjacent the governor, a clutch member secured tosaid shaft, an arm leading from said member, a governor connecting-rodcoupled to said arm, a second clutch member mounted loosely on the shaftand normally locked to the first clutch member, a compression springinterposed between the members, arms leading from the loose clutchmember in opposite directions, acylinder, inlet valves for the cylinder,reach-rods connecting the valves to the arms of the loose clutch memberaforesaid, a third clutch member mounted loosely on the rock-shaftadjacent the second mentioned clutch memher, an arm carried by the thirdclutch member, a spring-controlled trigger-rod leading from said arm, asecond reoiprocating spring-controlled trigger-rod set to normallyengage the first rod, a member for holding the last mentioned rod in itsset position, an engine-shaft, a fly wheel on the shaft, and aspring-controlled tappet responding to the centrifugal force of theflywheel for tripping the member holding the second trigger-rod, wherebyboth triggerrods are released, and whereby the second clutch member isunlocked from the first clutch member and locked to the third mentionedclutch member, and whereby the governor releases control of the valvesand the latter are directly controlled by the last mentioned pair ofinterlocked clutch members, the release of the trigger-rods rocking thelast interlocked clutch members through an are sufficient to close theinlet valves.

3. In a device of the character described, a spring-controlledtrigger-rod, means for supporting the same, in combination with aswinging tripper yoke normally engaging one end of the rod, and acentrifugally operated tappet for striking the yoke and releasing therod. 7

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

WARREN H. NUTTER.

\Vitnesses EMIL STAREK, ELsn M. SIEGEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, 'byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

